Empty Spaces - Vol. 1 (Sequels to Story Time)
by Gemini11
Summary: (Based Before Story Time) Prue and her husband are having marital problems, but Prue survives with the aid of her sisters. A strang furry, child-fearing demon attacks. In the end things between the children have changed. (Music Credit : SR71 - Empty Space


(A little background info. Prue is married to a man named Sean, and they have a daughter named Lila who is 4 years old, they live a block from the Manor. Piper and Leo are married and Melinda has just turned 5 years old, they live in the Manor. Phoebe is married to Marcus, the whitelighter, and they have a 4-year-old son named Brent and a 2-year-old daughter named Alecia, and Phoebe is pregnant. They live 2 blocks from the manor, and 1 block from Prue.)  
  
  
  
  
  
"Is it too hot?" Piper asked, joining her sister in the solarium.  
  
  
  
"No, it's just right." Prue answered, taking a sip of her tea.  
  
Piper sat down next to Prue and took a sip of her own tea. "So, what's up?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Prue asked.  
  
"Well, you said you needed to talk." Piper reminded her.  
  
"Oh, right." Prue sighed. "Honestly, I just needed out of that house for awhile."  
  
"How come?"  
  
"It's just Sean again." Prue leaned back, sipping her tea. "I came home from work to find the kitchen in a mess, and I mean it was a huge mess. Apparently, something he tried to cook exploded, and then he thought 'what the hey' and he and Lila trashed the place." Prue paused for another drink. "Huge food fight. Well, anyway, Lila had a blast. So, then when I get home I'm left to clean up their mess, and it made me a little angry."  
  
"Can't blame you."  
  
"Sean and I got into an argument, and of course, I end up being the bad guy because he was just trying to show her a good time." Prue sighed once more. "It's not that I don't want her to have fun, but I wish he could be less messy when they play. Or maybe he could at least clean up his own mess."  
  
"Have you talked to him about it?"  
  
"Yes, and it does no good." Prue sat up straight, setting her glass on the table. "He just turns on me saying that if I were home more often Lila wouldn't need him to try so hard to make her happy."  
  
"That's a low blow." Piper commented.  
  
"I know, and I would be home more if he would get a job. We have to pay our bills somehow." Prue said with another sigh. "We're always arguing, and either he leaves or I do, and we don't know if or when the other will come back. A few more fights, and I think I'll be done in."  
  
Piper gave her sister's back a pat. "Things will be fine, Prue. You just have to work past the obstacles."  
  
"I don't know if I can handle it anymore, though." Prue said softly, leaning her head on Piper's shoulder. "It takes so much out of me."  
  
Piper put a comforting arm around Prue. "You're strong, though, Prue."  
  
"But am I that strong?" She asked.  
  
"I guess that depends on you." Piper said. "Do you want to be that strong?"  
  
"I don't want my family to fall apart, Piper."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" Prue asked quietly.  
  
"You can use my old room." Piper said. "We moved Melinda into Phoebe's old room."  
  
"I think I'm going to turn in for the night then." Prue said.  
  
"Alright." Piper got up and pulled Prue to her feet. "I'm sure everything will work out." Piper hugged Prue and gave her a kiss on the forehead before sending her off to bed. Piper picked up the glasses and headed to the kitchen. She was cleaning the glasses when Leo orbed in.  
  
"Hey," Leo said, startling Piper. She jumped and spun around. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He added quickly.  
  
"Sorry, I was just thinking." Piper admitted. "Oh, uh, Prue's staying here tonight."  
  
"Problems at home?"  
  
Piper nodded. "I hope it doesn't get too bad for her."  
  
Leo gave Piper a kiss. "Me too."  
  
"Melinda wanted you to go see her when you got home." Piper said. "She was in the attic looking at the book last time I checked on her."  
  
"Okay, I'll go see what she wants." Leo said, smiling.  
  
Piper watched him leave, and then turned to finish cleaning the glasses.  
  
  
  
The next morning Piper woke Prue up.  
  
"What?" She muttered sleepily.  
  
"You're going to be late for work." Piper told her.  
  
"What time is it?" She asked, sitting up.  
  
"It's 6:30." Piper said.  
  
"I'm not gonna have enough time to get home and still make it there on time." Prue said groaning.  
  
"Here." Piper tossed a bundle at her. "Just remember to give them back this time." She added with a wink, and headed for the door.  
  
Prue looked down at the clothes. "Thank you so much." She smiled and got up to get ready for work.  
  
Piper went down to make her sister something to eat. Melinda and Leo were sitting at the table waiting on Piper to get back. Melinda smiled at her mother and pointed at her plate.  
  
"All gone!" She informed her. "I get more now?"  
  
Piper smiled and took up the plate. "Sure, sweetie."  
  
"What Aunt Prue doing here?" Melinda asked.  
  
"She spent the night." Piper answered as she sat Melinda's plate down in front of her.  
  
"How come?" Melinda asked.  
  
Piper glanced at Leo.  
  
"Well," Leo said. "Prue wanted to see Mommy, and when she got ready to go home it was really late, and she was tired, so Mommy made her stay. She didn't want Prue driving when she was that tired."  
  
"Cause she might wreck?" Melinda asked.  
  
"That's right."  
  
Melinda was finishing her breakfast when Prue came down. She smiled at Piper as she took the proffered mug of coffee.  
  
"Just like old times," Prue smiled.  
  
"You have time to eat something?" Piper asked.  
  
Prue glanced at her watched and then nodded. "Something small though."  
  
Piper guided Prue to a chair and sat her down, and returned a few moments later with a plate. Prue looked down at the food and smiled.  
  
"I haven't had anything this good in a while." Prue took a few more mouthfuls before noticing that Melinda was watching her eat. Prue stopped eating to look at her niece.  
  
"Are you really hungry?" Melinda asked.  
  
"Yes, I am." Prue smiled.  
  
"I haven't seen food disappear that fast since Thanksgiving, and then you still could find leftovers for weeks."  
  
Prue started laughing, and Melinda crossed her arms and looked at Piper.  
  
"What did I do?" She asked.  
  
"You're just being yourself." Piper said, kissing her daughter on the head. "Go get changed." Melinda frowned, and Piper added, "I thought you wanted to come with me today."  
  
"Where to?" Melinda asked, raising one eyebrow.  
  
"To the club to pick up a few things, and then I thought I'd get some ice cream." Piper said. "Phoebe wanted to go out to lunch too, but if you'd rather stay home—"  
  
Melinda jumped out of her chair. "What should I wear?"  
  
"I'm sure you'll slap something trendy together." Piper smirked.  
  
Melinda started running for the door, and then stopped. She glanced back at the table. She slowly walked back and tapped Prue's knee. Prue looked down at her.  
  
"Kiss?" Melinda asked, holding her arms out.  
  
Prue giggled and pulled Melinda into her lap and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Melinda wrapped her arms around Prue's neck.  
  
"You have to come back sometime." Melinda told her. "I've missed you."  
  
Then she jumped down and ran out of the room. Prue glanced down at the plate, still half full, and then stood up.  
  
"I should get going."  
  
"I thought you said you had time to eat." Piper asked.  
  
"I'm just not that hungry anymore." Prue said, leaving the room. "Thanks." She called back.  
  
Piper sighed and sat down where Prue had been.  
  
"She'll be fine, Piper." Leo said.  
  
Piper glanced at the door. "I hope so."  
  
  
  
"Prue! You got a call."  
  
"Yeah, one sec." Prue called back, and then turned back to the models before her. "Just move to the left there. Okay, now you," She pointed at another model. "Move this way. Ooh, hold it!" She snapped a few pictures. "Okay, let's take five." She ran back to the man who had told her she had a call. "Who is it?"  
  
"Your husband." The man answered.  
  
Prue took the phone. "Prue speaking."  
  
"Where were you last night?" Sean asked. "You didn't come home."  
  
"I was at my sister's." Prue answered.  
  
"Lila was worried sick."  
  
"Tell her that I'm fine." Prue said, drinking from a water bottle.  
  
"Tell her yourself." Sean said.  
  
"Mommy?" Lila's voice piped up.  
  
"Hey, sweetie."  
  
"Are you working?"  
  
"Yes, I am." Prue told her.  
  
"Will you come have lunch with me?" Lila asked.  
  
"I sure will." Prue answered. "But right now I have to get to work."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"I promise." Prue said.  
  
"Yay! See you at lunch!"  
  
Prue said goodbye and hung up. She set the water bottle down and went back to work. Her boss dropped by with a few extra assignments for Prue to finish. The hours seemed to slide by as she worked, and before she knew it, it was lunchtime. She told everyone to take a few minutes break while she made a quick phone call. She called home and Sean answered.  
  
"Sean, I can't make it home for lunch today. Tell Lila I'm sorry. I fell into some extra work. I have to get this done today."  
  
"I'll tell her." Sean said, and then hung up.  
  
Prue's gaze lingered on the phone for a few moments, and then finally she was called back to work.  
  
At about eight o'clock that night Prue came home. She tossed her purse on the floor by the door and went to find Sean. He was in the kitchen making dinner. Prue walked in and said hello and then asked about their daughter.  
  
"Lila is in her room." He said.  
  
"I'll go see her." Prue said, starting for the stairs.  
  
"She doesn't want to see you, she's mad that you broke another promise." Sean informed her. Prue stopped at the doorway, as he continued. "She was really looking forward to lunch with you, Prue."  
  
"What was I supposed to do, Sean?" She asked, without looking at him.  
  
"You were supposed to have lunch with our daughter."  
  
"How? Just walk out and lose my job?" Prue asked angrily, spinning around to glare at him. "I can't drop everything just to eat with Lila."  
  
"But you can spend every waking moment taking pictures of other people's children?"  
  
"I have to!" She said loudly. "If I didn't we would lose our cars, we would lose this house, we wouldn't have anything."  
  
"Those things don't matter to her." Sean yelled back. "She just wants her mother."  
  
"I know that!" Prue sighed. "You don't think I want to spend time with her?"  
  
"No I don't. If you did you wouldn't spend so much of your time at work."  
  
"I'm doing the best I can, Sean."  
  
"Well, you're doing a great job as a photographer, but you make a lousy mother." He said harshly, turning off the stove and leaving.  
  
"Where are you going?" She demanded to know.  
  
"Why should I tell you? You never tell me."  
  
"Sean!" She screamed at him. "Come back here!"  
  
He slammed the front door behind him, as Lila came down the stairs.  
  
"Daddy!" She ran to the front door, screaming at Sean to come back.  
  
Prue had to force herself not to cry. Lila came back inside; tears streaming down her own face. She glared up at her mother.  
  
"What did you do?" She screamed at Prue. "Why did you make him leave!"  
  
"Sweetie, I didn't—"  
  
"Don't call me that!" She screamed and ran upstairs, slamming the door to her room.  
  
"Lila…" Prue said in a whisper. "I'm sorry."  
  
  
  
Phoebe and Marcus were at the Manor, sitting with Piper and Leo in the Parlor, watching Melinda and Brent play together. Alecia slept in her mother's arms. Piper smiled at the children.  
  
"Brent, play nice." Marcus warned.  
  
Piper turned her attention back to her little sister. "So, when's the new baby due?"  
  
"She's due in about two months." Phoebe answered.  
  
"Oh, so it's a girl?" Leo asked, looking surprised.  
  
"I thought you both wanted it to be a surprise." Piper said.  
  
"Yeah, well, I couldn't take the not knowing, so I went to the doctor and found out." Marcus said.  
  
"Then he blew the surprise by telling me." Phoebe said with a smile. "But since I know it's a girl I've been able to decide on a name much easier."  
  
"Have you picked a definite one out yet?" Piper asked.  
  
"Yeah, I think we're going to call her Hannah Lee Carter-Halliwell." Phoebe announced.  
  
Leo glanced past them as the room light up blue. Orbs of light were spinning around in the air, until coming together to form a man. Leo got to his feet, and Marcus did the same.  
  
"Aw, you didn't have to stand for me." The man said as he walked to the couch.  
  
Marcus and Leo relaxed and sat back down.  
  
"Hello, Michael." Phoebe said calmly to Marcus's twin brother.  
  
"Hello." He said politely.  
  
"What's up?" Marcus asked.  
  
"Nothing's up." Michael answered. "Can't a guy drop by to see favorite his niece and nephew?"  
  
"Your only niece and nephew." Marcus corrected.  
  
"Well, favorite and only."  
  
Brent ran by and saw Michael and stopped running from Melinda.  
  
"Uncle Mike!" Brent shouted and jumped into his uncle's arms.  
  
Melinda, figuring that the game was over, climbed into Piper's lap. Piper put her arms around her. Melinda leaned back against her mother, twirling Piper's hair in her fingers.  
  
"How are you doing, Brent?" Michael asked.  
  
"I'm great!" Brent smiled. "But Melinda beat me again."  
  
"At what?"  
  
"I can't run as fast as she can." Brent frowned as Melinda giggled at him.  
  
Phoebe frowned. "Brent, I thought I told you, no tag in the house."  
  
"It was Mel's idea." Brent said, pointing fingers.  
  
"Melinda?"  
  
"Sorry, Aunt Phoebe." Melinda pouted. "We were bored."  
  
"Well, it's okay this once, but don't let it happen again." Phoebe said with a smile. "And stop that pouting, you'll trip over that lip someday."  
  
Melinda giggled at the thought of her lip falling underneath her feet.  
  
The phone rang and Leo got up to answer it. "Hello?"  
  
"Leo, I...I need my sisters please." Prue said quietly on the other line.  
  
"Prue? What's wrong?" Leo thought her voice sounded a little shaky and scared.  
  
"Please, Leo, just send them over here." She begged.  
  
"We'll be right there—"  
  
"No, I mean…I need just my sisters." Prue said. "Nothing personal."  
  
"I understand, they'll be there in a few minutes."  
  
"Thank you, Leo."  
  
"No problem. Bye." He hung up the phone and turned to see both Phoebe and Piper staring at him.  
  
"What's wrong?" Piper asked, setting Melinda aside. Melinda looked worried too.  
  
"Prue needs you and Phoebe." Leo told them. "I don't know what's wrong, she just said she wanted the both of you."  
  
"Marcus, take Alecia." Phoebe said. Marcus took his daughter out of his wife's arms and cradled her small body against his chest.  
  
"Is it against the rules for you to orb us there?" Piper asked.  
  
"I can take you, Piper, but I can't take you both at once." Leo said.  
  
"I'll take Phoebe." Michael offered, setting Brent on the floor.  
  
"I'll watch the children till you get back." Marcus said.  
  
Leo wrapped his arms around Piper and orbed away. Michael put an arm around Phoebe, and they too, orbed away. They orbed to the back door of Prue's house. Piper told Leo to get back home to the kids quickly. Michael and Leo left as soon as Piper and Phoebe went inside. They could hear Prue yelling in the hallway upstairs, so they headed that way.  
  
"Lila, please! Open the door!" Prue begged her daughter.  
  
"No! I hate you! Go away!"  
  
"Lila," Prue begged as tears filled her eyes again. "Please,"  
  
"No!" Lila screamed from inside.  
  
"Prue?" Phoebe said quietly.  
  
Prue turned to see her sisters standing behind her. Piper rushed over and pulled Prue into her arms. Phoebe joined the hug from the side stroking Prue's head.  
  
"Prue, what's wrong?" Piper asked.  
  
"Sweetie, what happened?" Phoebe added, breaking the embrace.  
  
"Sean left, and Lila hates me." Prue cried in frustration. "I'm a terrible mother!"  
  
"Oh, Prue, that's not true." Piper said soothingly.  
  
"It has to be." Prue whispered.  
  
"Prue, you're a great mother. Trust us." Phoebe said. "Look how we turned out." She motioned from herself to Piper. "And all we had was you, and—well, you're proud of us, right?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, we wouldn't be us without you." Piper jumped in.  
  
"Right. You're the reason we're the great women we are today, Prue." Phoebe said soothingly. "Lila is just upset, I'm sure she doesn't hate you. Remember how much I used to scream that I hated you?" Prue nodded and let a smile slip. "I never meant it though, I just said it because I was angry, and I wanted you to feel bad…the way I felt. I'm sure it's the same with Lila. She's just upset."  
  
"Lila loves you, Prue. You don't have to worry about that." Piper wiped Prue's tears away. "When she stays with Melinda she talks about you all the time. She adores you, sweetie."  
  
"You're just going through a hard time right now." Phoebe said. "Whenever you aren't fighting with Sean you are a great mother. You just have to find out how to patch things with Sean and it will all be fine again."  
  
Prue sniffled and sighed, and Phoebe pulled her into a half-hug. Piper took up Prue's hand and gave it a little pat.  
  
"Now, why did Sean leave?" She asked.  
  
"I don't know." Prue said, trying to blink back new tears. "I couldn't make it home to eat lunch with Lila, and I had promised to, but I had to work. I couldn't just leave. I would've lost my job, Piper."  
  
"So, he left because you weren't home for lunch?" Piper asked.  
  
"He left because we had another argument." Prue said, wiping her eyes dry. "I don't like breaking my promises to her, I just, I have to work."  
  
"Okay Piper," Phoebe said. "Here's what we'll do. You two go downstairs and talk about everything, Piper, try to calm Prue down a bit." Phoebe smiled sympathetically at Prue. "I'll try talking to Lila, even if I have to kick down the door." Phoebe winked. "I'm sure me and Hannah could knock it off it's hinges." Phoebe gave her belly a pat, and Prue couldn't help but let out a little laugh.  
  
Piper smiled and put an arm around Prue, leading her downstairs. Phoebe walked down the hall a few feet and knocked on Lila's door.  
  
"Lila? It's Phoebe."  
  
"Aunt Phoebe?"  
  
"Yep. Can I come in?"  
  
"Is Mommy with you?"  
  
"Nope, it's just me."  
  
Lila slowly opened the door and peeked out, and then she opened the door more and let Phoebe in. Phoebe crossed the room and sat down on the bed. Lila locked the door back.  
  
"Come here." Phoebe said, patting the bed beside her.  
  
Lila jumped onto the bed beside Phoebe. Phoebe picked up the four- year-old and sat her on her lap. Lila laid her hand on Phoebe's tummy and sighed. Phoebe kissed her niece on the top of the head. "You're mad at your mommy aren't you?"  
  
Lila nodded. "She made Daddy go away."  
  
Phoebe tilted the girl's head up so they were looking into each other's eyes. "Lila, Prue loves your daddy. She would never send him away. He just needed to be alone for awhile. He needs to think about things."  
  
"What kind of things?" Lila asked.  
  
"Well, they're his things, so I don't know."  
  
"Why does Daddy fight with Mommy?" Lila asked.  
  
"Sometimes they just disagree."  
  
"Because of me?"  
  
"No, not because of you." Phoebe said.  
  
"But Daddy was mad at Mommy because she had to work and couldn't keep her promise to me. He was mad at her because of me."  
  
"No, he just doesn't like that your mommy spends so much time at work." Phoebe explained.  
  
"She has to." Lila said. "I wasn't mad that she didn't make it home for lunch. I had a tea party set up for when she came home from work." Lila pointed across the room at the little table. "See?"  
  
"Prue would've enjoyed that." Phoebe smiled.  
  
"And Mommy's not the only Mommy that has to work for her family."  
  
"That's right. Your daddy just wishes she'd stay at home more, and take care of you."  
  
"He doesn't like taking care of me?" Lila leaned against Phoebe as best she could with Phoebe's tummy in the way.  
  
"Yes, he does." Phoebe assured her. "He loves you just as much as your mommy."  
  
"Mommy didn't make Daddy leave?"  
  
"No, she didn't want him to go." Phoebe said.  
  
"Is Mommy mad at me for saying those mean things?" Lila asked, looking down ashamed of what she had said.  
  
"No, but she is hurt. How about we go see her?" Phoebe asked, standing up.  
  
"I guess so." Lila jumped up and took Phoebe's hand.  
  
When they went downstairs they found Prue and Piper in the living room on the couch. Piper was holding Prue, who was crying. Piper noticed Phoebe and Lila coming down the stairs.  
  
"Shh, Prue, come on." Piper stroked her hair. "You'll be fine. Everything will work out. Please don't give up like this."  
  
Piper looked up at Phoebe and Lila. Lila was staring at her with wide eyes.  
  
"Prue, stop this." Piper said softly. "You have to be strong. It's not too late to fix things."  
  
"I don't know how." Prue whispered.  
  
"Mommy?" Lila's quiet voice filled the room. "Are you okay?"  
  
Prue sat up and looked at her daughter, just now noticing she was in the room. Piper tucked a strand of her sister's hair behind her ear. Lila looked confused.  
  
"Did I make you cry?" Lila asked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said."  
  
She let go of Phoebe and hesitantly went to the couch. She took Prue's hand up in hers and gave it a kiss. Prue picked her up and sat her in her lap. Piper got up and joined Phoebe.  
  
"I'm okay, Lila. I know you didn't mean those things." Prue told her. "I just wish Daddy was here."  
  
"Where did he go?" Lila asked, hugging her mother.  
  
"I don't know, baby."  
  
"You were gone last night, but you came back." Lila said. "So, maybe Daddy will come back too."  
  
"I hope so." She whispered. "But I would never leave you behind."  
  
"I love you, Mommy. I don't hate you." Lila whispered.  
  
"Oh, I love you too. I'll always love you." Prue kissed Lila on the forehead.  
  
"But I am hungry." Lila said, making everyone in the room laugh. Lila just smiled and looked around confused.  
  
"Why don't you guys come back with us and have dinner?" Piper asked.  
  
Prue looked up at her sisters. "Sounds great."  
  
"Really?" Lila asked. Prue nodded. "Let me go get my shoes."  
  
Lila ran upstairs to find her shoes. Prue gave Piper and Phoebe each a hug, and thanked them for everything.  
  
"Anytime, Prue." Phoebe said.  
  
"I'm sorry I lost it all like this."  
  
"It's understandable, Prue." Piper told her.  
  
"I just hate to look so weak in front of you guys, I mean, I'm supposed to take care of you." Prue said quietly.  
  
"Sometimes you just need a little servicing." Phoebe joked. "Ya know, to build you back up."  
  
Prue smiled at Phoebe and gave her arm a playful slap.  
  
Lila came back down, waving her shoes in the air. Piper knelt down and helped her put them on, and then they went out to Prue's car and drove to the Manor. The children ate dinner and then went to Melinda's room to play. Prue offered to help Piper do the dishes, and Phoebe sat in a chair in the kitchen, talking to them as they went about the chore. She had offered to help, but Prue and Piper had refused saying that the pregnant lady needed to rest. Phoebe had rolled her eyes at them but sat down as directed. Leo, Marcus, and Michael sat in the parlor having their own 'manly' conversation. At about ten o'clock, Prue decided she and Lila had better get home. She went upstairs to find her, but she, Melinda, and Brent were all asleep. Brent was curled up in the beanbag on the floor, and Melinda and Lila were curled up together on the bed. The TV was blaring the kids' favorite cartoons.  
  
Piper joined Prue at the doorway.  
  
"You can leave her here if you want." Piper told her. "If you want the night to yourself, I mean."  
  
"You mean in case Sean comes home." Prue said.  
  
"Well, maybe that too." Piper smiled.  
  
"Maybe that's a good idea." Prue backed into the hallway. "At least this way she won't hear us fighting."  
  
"Prue," Piper said, disapproving of Prue's being so pessimistic.  
  
"What? That's all we do, Piper." Prue said.  
  
Piper sighed. "Well, don't worry about her." Piper nodded toward the sleeping cousins. "We'll take care of her."  
  
"You always do." Prue said. "And this from the woman who had baby issues."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, well things change when they come and you can't return them." Piper joked.  
  
"So, I'll pick her up in the morning."  
  
"Okay." Piper said, leading her sister downstairs. "I'll let her know where you are if she wakes up."  
  
"Thanks." Prue gave Piper's cheek a kiss, and hugged Phoebe.  
  
"I'll see you two later." Prue waved and drove home.  
  
  
  
Prue walked into an empty house, and headed upstairs to her room. She sighed, and changed into her pajamas, then crawled into bed. She thought about the problems she had with Sean. She still loved him, and she was fairly sure he still loved her. Like Piper had said before, she just had to try harder. She felt so lonely without him there; she didn't want it to end up like this permanently. She just had to figure out what she could do to fix things; it had to be her fault. She thought it was her fault, or maybe she wanted it to be her fault because at least if it were her fault she could fix it. She felt like things were different between her and Sean. He seemed colder than he had once been; he seemed empty when she talked to him. She had to figure out how she could change that. She wanted to fix it.  
  
  
  
I'm not afraid to go backwards,  
  
And fix what we broke.  
  
My gaze falls behind,  
  
You make desire feel so easy.  
  
I hold off sleep,  
  
It's so silent without you here  
  
Don't give up now,  
  
It would all be for nothing.  
  
Cause I believe in second chances.  
  
I believe the years forget.  
  
So let me fill these empty spaces.  
  
Better late than never,  
  
Stay forever.  
  
Let me fill this empty space,  
  
Cause there's always room for one more mistake.  
  
  
  
She had finally fallen asleep, and was sleeping when he slipped into the room. He changed and crawled into bed with her. He watched her for a moment as she slept. He hated how things were between them. He reached over and kissed her lips softly, and whispered an apology, wondering why he couldn't do things like this when she was awake. She stirred in her sleep, and he lay back not wanting to wake her. She needed her sleep, she worked so hard. She was so beautiful, even while she slept. He sighed. She rolled over on her side and wrapped an arm around his waist. After the initial shock of feeling something he had missed for so long, he felt his heart ache, and thought he might cry. Instead he slid his arm around her and pulled her close. He kissed the top of her head, and closed his eyes. He could at least pretend this was how things still were.  
  
  
  
The next morning Prue awoke to find herself in Sean's arms. She was shocked at first, and then she smiled as she remembered, this was how it used to be. She snuggled up close to him for a few moments until she finally crawled out of his hold, and looked down at him. She ran a finger along the side of his jaw and her smile disappeared. She sighed and crawled out of bed. She hurried into the bathroom to take her shower quickly, and then she got dressed and went down to make breakfast, but stopped in the living room and picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello? Yes, this is Prue Halliwell. I won't be coming in today." She said. "Why? Because I'm not feeling well." She lied, and then hung up the phone.  
  
She was setting the food on the table when Sean came into the kitchen. She looked at him sheepishly. "I made breakfast."  
  
"I see that." He said, sitting down. "Any reason why?"  
  
"I think we need to talk." She told him. "And I called in sick, so I won't be going to work." She turned to get the milk, and then said, "Oh, and Lila is at Piper's. She fell asleep there last night, and so I left her."  
  
"What are we supposed to talk about?" He asked, watching her move around the kitchen, even though this wasn't her favorite place she still moved around with perfect grace, not the clumsy fumbles of a non-kitchen kind of person.  
  
She set a plate in front of him. She had made him an omelet. He loved omelets, but she never wanted to take the time to make them, and he couldn't make a decent omelet if his life depended on it, but Piper had taught Prue. She had begged Piper to teach her one afternoon when they were both watching all the kids because she knew how much Sean liked them. She wanted to give him a treat for getting a promotion. Of course, a few weeks later he was fired. The business was being sold and the former employees were not needed.  
  
"We're going to talk about our marriage." Prue said, thinking it best to get to the point quickly. She brought him a glass for his milk, and as she was turning away he caught her wrist. She stopped and looked at him.  
  
"Prue," He started but his voice faltered.  
  
"What?" She asked when he didn't continue.  
  
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what I said last night." Sean said gently. "I was just…I wasn't thinking. I know that you're a great mother; I just—"  
  
"I understand." She said, cutting him off. She turned and grabbed her own plate and sat down at the table with him. "I also understand that you just love Lila. You want her to be happy."  
  
"But that is still no excuse to do what I did." He admitted.  
  
"Sean, I think we're on shaky ground." Prue said, looking down at her eggs.  
  
"What do you mean?" He asked, fearing she might suggest divorce.  
  
"Our marriage." Prue answered. "I think we need to save it before it falls."  
  
Sean looked at Prue in relief. "I think you're right." He agreed quickly.  
  
Prue didn't look up. She pushed the eggs around with her fork. "I just, it's hard on me when we fight because—"  
  
"I got a job." He interrupted, unable to hold in his surprise any longer.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Thanks to past experience, I'll be working with an advertisement agency." Sean explained. "It's not everything, but it pays well and I'm good at it."  
  
"That's a start." Prue said with a smile.  
  
"I'll only keep this job under one condition."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You have to cut your hours in half. I want you to be home by four o'clock everyday. I'll go to work from six till ten, and that way we can spend two hours together and with Lila."  
  
Prue looked back down at her eggs. She finally looked up, and smiled. "Agreed. I'll talk to my boss in the morning."  
  
"As for our other problem, I'll stop making all the huge messes and leave you to make some of them." Sean grinned, and Prue let out a little laugh. He stood up and pulled Prue out of her chair. He took up both of her hands in his own. "Prue, I want you to know that I still love you."  
  
Prue had to blink back the tears. "I still love you. I've always loved you."  
  
"I watched you sleeping last night, and I fell in love with you all over again." Sean told her. "I didn't want to be the reason you hurt. And just now…you scared the life out of me. It's like I saw the word 'divorce' hanging over the table. I'm glad you don't give up easily because it'd break my heart if you gave up on me." He brushed her hair back out of her face. "Especially, when I just need a good slap to set me straight." He joked. "Just one question…"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can we just go back to way it all was, no more arguing? I don't want to have to start all over."  
  
She pulled him to her and kissed him the way they hadn't kissed in a long time. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her to him just like he always had.  
  
  
  
Can you feel that?  
  
I think we're moving in the right direction.  
  
I was someone else then,  
  
I'd take it back if you would let me.  
  
Cause I believe in second chances,  
  
I believe the years forget.  
  
So let me fill these empty spaces.  
  
Better late than never,  
  
Stay forever.  
  
Let me fill this empty space,  
  
Cause there's always room for one more mistake.  
  
We were never this close when we were young,  
  
Every night I whisper your name at the top of my lungs.  
  
  
  
Prue pulled back and smiled. "I think we should go pick up Lila now."  
  
"I don't." Sean said.  
  
"What?"  
  
He walked into the living room, followed by Prue, and picked up the phone.  
  
"Hey, Leo. It's Sean. Yeah, could you watch Lila for awhile longer? I'm going to take Prue out for the afternoon. Great thanks. Yeah, and tell Piper things are fine. I know she was worried about us. Okay, bye."  
  
He hung up the phone and turned to Prue. "I think we need to spend some time together."  
  
"I think you may be right." She smiled. "What'd you have in mind?"  
  
"How about a lovely stroll through the park like we did when we were dating?"  
  
"That sounds wonderful." Prue said, but then pulled away and looked at him sternly. "But you have to finish your breakfast."  
  
"Of course, you didn't think I'd let Piper's famous omelet go to waste did you?" Sean asked with a grin.  
  
"What do you mean Piper's? I made it." Prue joked. "That is Prue's famous omelet!"  
  
"Right, how silly of me." Sean said with a chuckle.  
  
He finished his omelet quickly and set his plate in the sink. He turned to her and smiled. "I'm going to go take my shower and get dressed."  
  
"I'll be done eating by the time you get done." She told him.  
  
  
  
"Melinda! Lila!" Piper called from the kitchen. Piper waited and they didn't show up. "Where are they?" She asked Leo.  
  
"They're playing hide-and-seek." Leo told her.  
  
"Oh, well in that case…" She called out again. "Look at these yummy cookies, Leo. Maybe we should eat them all up since the girls aren't anywhere around."  
  
Leo grinned and played along in a loud voice. "Mmm, these are the best!"  
  
Melinda and Lila appeared in the doorway peeking in. Piper caught them and motioned them forward.  
  
"Cookies?" Melinda asked.  
  
"Yeah, I made a fresh batch for you two."  
  
"Chocolate chip?" Lila asked.  
  
Piper held one up to show them and then took a bite out of it. "Yum…"  
  
Melinda and Lila rushed into the kitchen, both grabbing as many cookies as they could carrying in their small hands, and then they ran out of the kitchen.  
  
"Don't make a mess with those!" Piper shouted after them.  
  
"I have to get to work now." Leo said, getting out of his chair.  
  
Piper kissed him. "Don't work too hard." She smiled.  
  
He smiled back. "Oh, I won't." Then he orbed out.  
  
Piper was setting the cookies on the dining room table for the girls when the phone rang. She rushed back into the kitchen and answered it.  
  
"Piper, it's Prue. Can we all have dinner tonight?"  
  
"I guess we could. I don't have to work at the club tonight, so I won't be busy."  
  
"Well, I called Phoebe already, and she said she could make it."  
  
"When will you get here?" Piper asked, knowing they always had family dinners at the Manor.  
  
"Probably around five. Is that good?" Prue asked.  
  
"Sure. That's fine. Do I get to cook whatever, or do you have something specific in mind?"  
  
"Anything you want." Prue told her.  
  
"And will Sean be joining us?" Piper hesitantly asked.  
  
"Yes, and I've got a surprise for you and Phoebe."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise." Prue said. "Oh, I gotta go. Love ya, bye."  
  
"Love you too." Piper said and hung up the phone.  
  
"Mommy!" Melinda screamed from upstairs.  
  
"What?" Piper called.  
  
"Lila did something!"  
  
Piper looked confused, trying to think of what Lila could do, as she walked upstairs. She found Lila and Melinda in the attic, where they had been playing with some toys. Melinda looked like she was going to cry, and Lila was lying on the floor. Piper looked from Melinda to Lila. She was lying on her side with her back to Piper.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Melinda asked her mother.  
  
Piper fell to her knees beside Lila and pulled her over. Lila's face was turning a bluish color and her eyes were darting around frantically. Piper quickly pulled Lila to her feet.  
  
"Melinda, what happened?" She screamed at her daughter.  
  
"She was just eating her cookies!" Melinda answered in tears.  
  
Piper put her arms gently around Lila and squeezed, using the Heimlich maneuver. "Lila! Spit! It! Out!"  
  
Melinda started begging Lila to spit it out as well.  
  
Piper gave one last squeeze and heard a gagging sort of sound, and then Lila gasped. Piper turned her around. "Can you breathe?"  
  
Lila nodded and took a few deep breaths as an answer. Piper pulled her into a hug. When she set her down Melinda gave her a big hug. Lila pushed away after a few moments and turned to Piper.  
  
"Water?" She asked.  
  
"Sure," Piper picked her up, and Lila wrapped her legs around her aunt's waist and laid her head on her shoulder.  
  
Piper carried Lila downstairs to the kitchen with Melinda trailing behind. Melinda was holding one of Lila's outstretched hands all the way to the kitchen. Piper set her down in a chair at the table in the kitchen, and Melinda scooted her chair close to her cousin's.  
  
Lila sucked down the water that Piper gave her. She handed the glass back and smiled up at Piper's worried expression.  
  
"All better." Lila informed her. "But no more cookies."  
  
Piper bent over in front of Lila and cupped her face. "Are you sure you're all better?"  
  
Lila nodded vigorously. "I want my mommy though."  
  
"I'll call her and see where she is." Piper said. "You two go play in the Solarium." Piper turned to the phone. "Oh," She added, catching the girls at the doorway. "You two be very careful though. Don't do anything dangerous."  
  
Melinda nodded and took Lila's hand in her own and led her out of the room. Piper picked up the phone and held it, pacing back and forth. She finally stopped pacing and looked at the phone. "Prue, please don't be mad." She muttered before dialing.  
  
  
  
"Hello, Prue?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"In my car. Sean and I are heading to the park." Prue told her. "Why? What's up, Piper?"  
  
"Look, please, please, don't be mad at me—"  
  
"Piper? What happened?" Prue asked sternly.  
  
"Before I say anything I want you to know that she is fine."  
  
"Piper, just tell me what happened."  
  
"Lila choked on a cookie."  
  
"What?" Prue screamed into the phone. Then Piper heard her telling Sean to pull over.  
  
"She's fine, Prue! It was lodged in her throat, but I got it out." Piper said quickly, hoping Prue wouldn't be mad at her.  
  
"We're coming over there." Prue said harshly and hung up.  
  
Piper slowly hung up the phone. "Ooohh, she's gonna kill me."  
  
Piper sat down in the sitting room. "This is just great." She sighed. "Prue never had a kid choke on her. Phoebe never had a kid choke on her, but of course, I end up nearly killing a kid with cookies." She dropped her head in her hands. "She's gonna kill me."  
  
"Who is?"  
  
Piper brought her head up at the sound of the little girl's voice. Melinda and Lila were standing next to the chair, still holding hands. Piper smiled and poked Lila.  
  
"Your mother."  
  
"Why?" She asked, looking up at her aunt with curious eyes.  
  
"Because my cookies nearly killed you."  
  
"It's okay." Lila said.  
  
Piper sunk back into the chair. "Prue's on her way here, so you two better go play while you can."  
  
Melinda and Lila nodded and ran off giggling. Piper sighed. She sat there in her chair thinking about how irresponsible she'd been. She was jolted out of her thoughts when the door opened and shut, and heavy footsteps could be heard coming into the sitting room. She jumped to her feet and turned to face Prue, Sean was standing next to her.  
  
"Where is she?" Prue asked.  
  
"With Melinda in the Solarium." Piper answered meekly.  
  
Prue marched off and came back with Lila on her hip. "I think we'll have to have that big dinner another time."  
  
"Mommy!" Lila screamed.  
  
"What, baby?" Prue asked.  
  
"I wanna stay and play with Mel."  
  
"Well, you can come back some other time. We've got things to do today."  
  
"Prue, I'm sorry." Piper said.  
  
"I know." Prue said. "But that doesn't change anything."  
  
Melinda came and hugged Piper's leg. Piper looked down at her.  
  
"Sorry, Lila." Melinda said quietly.  
  
"Bye." Lila muttered.  
  
Melinda tugged on Piper's arm, and Piper picked her up setting her on her hip.  
  
Prue turned and walked through the door with Lila. Sean gave Piper a pat on the arm and then followed. Piper sat down in her chair again. Melinda sat on her lap, leaning against her with her mother's arms wrapped around her.  
  
"Oh, my little baby." Piper kissed Melinda on the head. "It was an accident."  
  
"It wasn't your fault." Melinda said, trying to help out.  
  
Piper sighed. "Mommy is getting hungry. You want to help make lunch?"  
  
Melinda nodded. "Yeah!"  
  
  
  
"I think you're overreacting a little."  
  
"Sean, Lila nearly choked to death."  
  
"And Piper saved her."  
  
"And Piper is also the one who gave her the cookies."  
  
"Prue, you know that could've happened to anyone."  
  
Prue sighed. "I know. I just hate to think that it was my child."  
  
"Well, then how do you think your sister feels? She's pretty good at the guilt game." Sean said.  
  
"Mommy?" Lila, who hadn't been paying attention to them, spoke up from the back seat.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Are we still eating supper with Melinda and Aunt Piper?" She asked, waiting for an answer. Prue hesitated, so in her cutest little voice she added, "Please?"  
  
"Prue, Piper is going to feel terrible until you tell her that you aren't mad at her." Sean said.  
  
Prue sighed. "Hand me my phone."  
  
Sean handed her the phone and then pulled into a parking lot down the road. Prue dialed and then waited.  
  
  
  
"Melinda, go answer the phone for me." Piper said.  
  
Melinda jumped down off her stepladder and ran to the phone. "Hello, this is Melinda speaking." She recited.  
  
"Well, hello. This is Prue."  
  
"Aunt Prue are you mad at us?"  
  
"Oh, sweetie, I'm not mad." Prue told her. "Now, let me talk to your mom."  
  
"Okay." Melinda ran back over to her mother and held out the phone.  
  
"Just a second." Piper said and rinsed her hands off. She grabbed a towel, dried her hands, and then took the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Hey, busy at it?" Prue asked, trying to sound cheerful.  
  
"Just making Melinda something for lunch." Piper answered.  
  
"I just wanted to call and say that I went a little over the top back there." Prue said. "I just got scared and I'm sorry if I hurt you. I know this wasn't your fault. It could've happened to any of us."  
  
"Get real, Prue. You would never let anything like that happen." Piper said.  
  
"Piper, it could've been any of us." She pressed. "Now, are we still on for dinner?"  
  
Piper sighed. "Yeah."  
  
"Okay, five?"  
  
"Right, see you at five." Piper said and hung up.  
  
"See? She's not mad." Melinda said, peering over Piper's shoulder into a pot. "Is it ready yet?"  
  
  
  
Melinda was up in her room, and Piper was in the kitchen beginning dinner when Phoebe, Marcus, and the youngsters arrived. Piper took time away from her cooking to greet them. Brent was sent upstairs to play with Melinda. Alecia clung to Phoebe as she as Marcus followed Piper into the kitchen They sat down at the table and watched Piper rush around the kitchen, cooking.  
  
Piper told Phoebe all about the cookie/choking incident. Phoebe assured her that it happens to the best of them; she even confided that Brent had choked on a fishstick once, she just didn't make that big a deal out of it because it was something that children just did.  
  
"Marcus, could you maybe orb up and ask Leo if he'll be home for dinner? I need to know how many to set for." Piper asked.  
  
"Sure, I guess I could." Marcus said. He stood up, kissed Phoebe, and orbed out.  
  
Brent came trudging into the kitchen. "Mommy, something is being noisy upstairs."  
  
"What?" Phoebe asked, looking confused.  
  
Melinda can trotting into the kitchen and ran to Piper, wrapping her arms around Piper's leg.  
  
"It's making grr sounds." Brent said with a little growl.  
  
Phoebe looked up at Piper.  
  
"No." Piper said sternly. "You stay here, I'll go."  
  
"Piper," Phoebe began to argue.  
  
"Phoebe, you're pregnant." Piper said. "Stay with the children. If it's anything big and bad I'll deal with it until Prue gets here."  
  
"Mommy, is it a big bad monster?" Melinda asked.  
  
"I don't know, sweetie. Now, go over to Aunt Phoebe."  
  
Phoebe held her arm out to Melinda who walked up to Phoebe's side and let her aunt drape a protective arm around her shoulder. Brent sat down at Phoebe's feet, while Alecia stayed gurgling in Phoebe's lap.  
  
Piper dropped her towel on the table and headed for the door. Phoebe's voice made her pause.  
  
"Be careful, Piper."  
  
She looked over her shoulder. "I will."  
  
Piper pushed open the door and made it to the stairs, heart pumping. At least her adrenaline was flowing enough for her to take action if need be. She set her foot on the first step of the stairs when the front door burst open, and in came Prue, dragging Lila behind her. She passed Piper, going up the stairs in a hurry.  
  
"She's gotta go!" Prue called back at Piper.  
  
Piper glanced at Sean, pointed toward the kitchen and then ran upstairs. Sean went to the kitchen as directed. Prue was standing outside the bathroom door when Piper came up.  
  
"Um, Prue?" Piper said a voice that said they shouldn't be up there.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We have a little problem." Piper said.  
  
That's when they heard something growl in anger from in the attic. Prue looked at Piper; she tilted her head and pointed up.  
  
"That would be the little problem." Piper said. "And truth be told, it probably isn't little."  
  
Lila came out of the bathroom, and was instantly yanked up by Prue. Prue and Piper ran back downstairs, and into the kitchen. Prue took Lila to Sean and ordered him to stay there and watch their daughter.  
  
"Hello, Phoebe." Prue said cheerfully.  
  
"Hi, Prue." Phoebe replied. "Time to get down to work, huh?" Phoebe said, longing to help vanquish something. They hadn't let her, unless they had to have her; instead they'd deal with it themselves.  
  
"I can't believe you miss this!" Prue said, grabbing Piper's hand and heading upstairs.  
  
On the staircase they heard a crashing sound. Piper shot Prue a look. "Why did I agree on staying and living in the Manor? It's always my house that gets totaled. Not yours or Phoebe's. Always the Manor." Piper said with a sigh. "Next time I'm redirecting them to your house."  
  
"Just come on." Prue laughed.  
  
They worked their way up the stairs. At the attic door they paused. "Do we have a plan of any sort?" Piper asked.  
  
"Oh, well, you can freeze him, and we can see what he…um, what it is and then we'll deal with it."  
  
"Great plan, Prue." Piper mocked.  
  
"It's better than nothing." Prue said.  
  
"Here we go! Time to wing it!" Piper chimed.  
  
They kicked open the door to be facing a hairy thing the size of a chimp. They noticed the sharp claws and the jagged ridges on its head. It drew back its lips in a snarl only to reveal razor like teeth.  
  
"Aw, he almost looks cute." Prue commented.  
  
The thing lowered his head and charged at them. Piper shrieked and froze it.  
  
"Okay, so he uses those sharp things on its head for weapons." Piper observed. "Don't let it head-butt us. Check. Oh, and don't call it cute."  
  
"Where's the book?" Prue asked.  
  
"Hopping around somewhere?"  
  
Prue pointed over by the window. "There."  
  
They ran over and picked it up. Prue opened it, and tried looking through it.  
  
"Arg, you know what? You hold it, and I'll look." Prue thrust the book into Piper's hands. She was flipping through pages when Piper dropped the book. "Piper!"  
  
"Prue!" She pointed at the furry thing and it was facing a different direction. It looked like it had unfroze and came after them, but she had frozen it again. She bent down and picked up the book. The furry thing looked to be fighting through the freeze. "Okay, look faster!"  
  
Prue started flipping through the pages again. "Aha!" She stopped on one page and started reading. "You've got to be kidding…"  
  
"What?" Piper asked. No response came. "What!"  
  
"It's afraid of human children." Prue said. "It cowers from them. There is a potion to vanquish it, but no spell. Says it doesn't need a spell. It's all bark and no bite. Well, no bite if you don't get too close."  
  
"So, we're supposed to use our children to scare it off until we can make the potion?" Piper asked. "That's crazy."  
  
"Yes, it is. Which one do we use?" Prue asked, glancing at the thing.  
  
"Lila can protect herself." Piper said.  
  
"Yeah, but her powers are still small." Prue said, thinking. "What if we use both Lila and Melinda?"  
  
"I guess." Piper answered hesitantly.  
  
"Well, look at it this way, if anything happens to them, we've still got Brent, our little healer."  
  
"Okay, so here—"  
  
Prue cut Piper off by tackling her to the ground. Piper looked up in time to see the thing smashing into the wall where they had been. Piper quickly climbed to her feet, giving Prue and hand. The thing watched them for a moment before getting ready to charge again. Prue and Piper dashed for the door. They slammed it shut, and then saw the ridges come through the door. The thing jumped back, but the ridges on his head were wedged in the door. Prue glanced at Piper, then grabbed her hand and ran down stairs to explain everything.  
  
  
  
  
  
"So, it's called what?" Phoebe asked, shifting Alecia from one shoulder to the other.  
  
"Well, I couldn't pronounce it so I didn't bother to remember." Prue admitted.  
  
"And it's staying in the attic why?"  
  
"Because…" Prue looked confused and then turned to her sister. "Piper? You wanna take this one?"  
  
"I don't know why, maybe it's trying to get the book and it's too dumb to realize we have it now, maybe it knows there are children down here, maybe it's too stupid to know there's more to the house…"  
  
"Okay, Piper!" Phoebe interrupted. "Thanks…we get the point."  
  
"So," Piper knelt down by Melinda and took up her hands. "You wanna help get rid of the big bad demon?"  
  
"Will I get hurt?" Melinda asked sheepishly.  
  
"I'll make you better if you do." Brent spoke up from Sean's lap. "Daddy showed me how…and Uncle Mike made sure I could do it whenever I needed to."  
  
"Okay, I guess I'll help." Melinda said with a sigh.  
  
"What about you?" Prue asked Lila.  
  
"I'll kick his hair butt out the window!" Lila screamed jumping into a fighting stance and throwing her arms around like she had seen Jackie Chan do in the movies.  
  
Phoebe laughed and grabbed her arms pulling her back against her leg. "Sweetie, you better be more careful, he's bigger and stronger than you are to be taking him on hand to hand."  
  
"But I got magic to use! I'll tear him a new—"  
  
"LILA!" Prue cut her off.  
  
"What? Daddy says it!"  
  
Prue shot a look a Sean.  
  
"How was I supposed to know she was in the room? She was hiding behind the couch." Sean said. "Besides, it's not like hasn't heard the word butthole before."  
  
"SEAN!" Prue reprimanded. Lila and Piper started laughing. "Piper!"  
  
"What? Prue, you gotta admit, it's funny."  
  
"Ah, you're all out of it." Prue sighed.  
  
"Let's go do a dance on his face!" Lila said.  
  
"We can poke him in the eyes, slam him with a handy stick of wood, and then kick where the sun don't shine!"  
  
"Lila, where do you hear these things?" Prue asked trying to hide a smile.  
  
"On TV, where else?" Lila said. "Duh!"  
  
"Okay, let's just do this." Piper stood up. "We'll just have the kids chase him down and out the back door. Maybe it can shimmer away or something."  
  
"Phoebe, you start working on the potion." Prue said, pushing the book of Shadows into Phoebe's hands. "Sean, you take care of Alecia and Brent while she's working."  
  
"Aye, aye, cap'n." Sean said.  
  
Prue sighed, and her sisters both laughed. "Too much Star Trek for you." Prue said.  
  
"Are we gonna body slam that bogey?" Lila asked. "Slap him into another country? Beat him till he's black and blue? Knock that smirk off his face?"  
  
"Lila…"  
  
"What, Aunt Piper?"  
  
"Time to be quiet, so we can go upstairs and scare away the hairy thing."  
  
"We're gonna scare away the big foot wannabe?" Lila asked. "Why can't we slap him silly first?"  
  
Piper took Lila by the shoulders and turned her towards the door. Prue held the door open and Piper pushed Lila out. Melinda ran up to Prue, took up her hand, and held on tightly.  
  
"You'll be fine, Mel." Prue reassured her.  
  
"I'm still scared."  
  
"Let's go." Prue said, pulling Melinda along by the hand.  
  
The made it to the staircase and heard the growling again. Melinda put Prue between herself and the stairs. Piper went up first, and Lila followed, eager to fight with the thing. Prue had to practically drag her niece along. Melinda let out a few little whimpers, and Prue looked back at her to make sure she was okay. Melinda noticed and didn't want her aunt to think she was a wussy, so she sucked it up, and decided to pretend to be brave, even if she wasn't really.  
  
They made it up to the attic and Piper pushed open the door again. The thing was only a few feet away. It looked up at her and cocked its head sideways and sniffed the air. Then it charged at her. Piper gasped and shoved Lila out in front of her. Lila screamed and the thing looked up and shrieked at Lila.  
  
"Oy!" Lila groaned and covered her nose. "You got morning breath bad, buddy!"  
  
The thing screeched and backed away. Piper pushed Lila forward and the thing backed off faster. Lila took advantage of it being scared of her and stuck her fingers in her mouth, pulling her mouth open as wide as she could and making gagging sounds at the demon. It let out a whimper and turned around and ran into a corner. Melinda laughed at her cousin from the door, and the demon covered his ears and screamed again.  
  
"Well, this works…" Piper laughed. "Maybe we could torture it to death."  
  
"Piper…"  
  
"Hey, I know! Get Alecia and make her cry. That'll drive him insane." Piper said with another chuckle.  
  
Lila would get closer to the thing and it would whimper and back away. Melinda started laughing harder, and decided this was fun, so she ran over to her cousin's side and started making faces at the thing.  
  
Finally, Prue told them to scare it downstairs and out the back door. It didn't take long, once Prue and Piper were out of the way; it dashed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Brent pointed and Alecia started crying and the thing tried to run only to smash its head into the table. Phoebe jumped away from the table, and Piper and Prue came running into the room with the girls behind them. The thing was sprawled out across the floor, and Sean was just hushing Alecia.  
  
"What happened?" Prue asked, looking down at the thing.  
  
"It just slammed its head into the table." Phoebe told them.  
  
Piper started laughing. "The baby did it." She had to laugh some more before she went on. "The crying got to him, he just thought knocking himself out of it was better than listening to that crying."  
  
Phoebe started laughing with her. "I can understand that."  
  
"How's the potion coming?" Prue asked leaning over Phoebe's shoulder.  
  
"Actually, it won't take as long as we thought." Phoebe said. "It's already nearly done, and since the thing is unconscious in our kitchen, it might be done before he wakes up."  
  
"Nice, hope we don't have any guests." Piper said. "Oh, don't mind the big hairy lump in the kitchen, it's just a child-fearing, adult-killing demon come to steal our magic book." Piper said, pretending to be talking to a 'guest'.  
  
"This has all been fun and entertaining, but I'm getting hungry." Prue said.  
  
Everyone in the room turned their attention to the blue orbs forming on the other side of the kitchen. Marcus materialized first and ran to Phoebe. He gave her a hug, and pulled back looking at the others.  
  
Leo materialized and started for Piper. "You guys have to be careful there's a new demon after you—"  
  
Piper pointed across the room at the demon, lying curled up into a ball by the table.  
  
"You dealt with it already?" Leo asked.  
  
"Nope." Piper answered.  
  
Leo and Marcus exchanged confused expression, so Sean explained. "The thing is afraid of children, so Lila and Melinda scared it down here, and then it scared Alecia, so she started crying, and her crying made it go crazy, and it rammed its own head against the table, and knocked itself out."  
  
"So it dealt with itself. Okay." Leo said.  
  
"Oh, well, that's…good?" Marcus asked.  
  
"Yeah, cause now we can make the potion and use it before the thing wakes up." Phoebe said.  
  
"Hopefully." Prue added.  
  
"Right, hopefully." Phoebe repeated, and went back to working on the potion.  
  
  
  
"Mommy! It's moving!" Brent shouted. "Can I kick it?"  
  
"I don't know." Phoebe said, looking at Marcus. "Can he?"  
  
"What?" Marcus asked looking shocked. "It's a demon, Pheebs!"  
  
"It's not like it's gonna do anything, it's more afraid of Brent than he is of it." Phoebe said.  
  
"Daddy!" Brent shouted. "It's still moving!"  
  
"Well then kick it!" Marcus shouted trying to have a conversation with his wife.  
  
Phoebe smiled, and Marcus sighed at what he'd just said. "Fine, you win, Phoebe."  
  
"Thank you, sweetie." She said, giving him a kiss.  
  
"Hey, hey!" Piper interrupted them. "You already got two brats that way!"  
  
Phoebe laughed and Marcus seemed to blush. Brent kicked the demon and then turned on his aunt. "I'm not a brat!" He said, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
"Can we just use the potion now?" Prue asked. "You guys are forgetting this things, as humiliating as it is, is still a demon capable of hurting one of us."  
  
"She's right." Piper straightened up. "Is the potion done?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah…here." Phoebe handed a bottle over to Piper, who tossed it over to Prue.  
  
"So, we just throw it on the reject?"  
  
"That's what the book said." Piper said with a shrug.  
  
Prue looked down at the thing and then shrugged, looking at her family. "Here goes nothing." She threw the bottle down at the thing.  
  
A cloud of black smoke filled the entire room. No one could even see their hands in front of their faces. The smoke around them seemed to get thicker before thinner. Piper started coughing and had to pull her shirt up over her nose. Sean draped a towel around Alecia. Finally, the cloud seemed to disperse. When it was completely gone they look around at each other.  
  
"Everyone safe?" Prue asked.  
  
All the children called out, followed by their parents saying that they're fine too. Prue leaned over and looked at where the thing was. She saw a rat sitting on the floor walking in circles. Piper came to her side and looked down at it.  
  
"Wow, is that it?" Piper asked.  
  
"I hope not…that's just sad." Prue said.  
  
Phoebe started laughing. "That's so pathetic."  
  
Marcus knelt down and picked it up by the tail. "What should we do with it?"  
  
"I don't wanna let it go. What if this is a trick?" Leo asked.  
  
"So, just kill it?" Marcus wondered aloud.  
  
"I guess so, but get it out of my kitchen when you do it." Piper commanded.  
  
Marcus glanced at Leo, and they both walked out the back with the rat.  
  
"I don't even wanna know how they plan on dealing with that thing." Prue said.  
  
"Me neither." Piper said. "You wanna help me out with dinner? I had it mostly taken care of before you got here and the giant mutant rat thing attacked." Piper had to force down a fit of giggles.  
  
"That has got to be the only demon that has every embarrassed the Source." Phoebe said.  
  
"I know it would embarrass me to send it." Prue said.  
  
"Can you even call it a 'demon'?" Piper asked with a grin.  
  
"Well, it could have done damage if we were still single without children." Phoebe acknowledged.  
  
"Yeah, I guess it could have." Piper agreed, and went back to fixing dinner with Prue's help.  
  
Phoebe sat back down in the chair at the table and took her baby from her brother-in-law. Brent tapped Lila on the shoulder. Lila turned around and looked at him, questioning him with her eyes.  
  
"Wanna go play?"  
  
"Sure." Lila said and they ran off together.  
  
Melinda watched them run off.  
  
"Why don't you go play with them?" Phoebe asked.  
  
Melinda just took a seat nearby and shook her head. "They didn't ask me, so I'll stay in here."  
  
"Well, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined them." Sean added.  
  
"It's okay." Melinda said, when really inside she felt a little left out. She didn't want to show it though. She wanted Prue to know she wasn't a baby. She'd never act like a baby again, she didn't like the pity she had seen in Prue's eyes when she looked back after Melinda's whimpers. She didn't want Prue, Phoebe, or her mother to think she couldn't handle what came at her. She wanted to be just like them.  
  
"Wanna help with dinner?" Piper asked.  
  
Melinda shook her head. "I'm gonna go watch television. One of my favorite shows is coming on."  
  
Piper watched curiously as Melinda left the room. She didn't like watching television that much and she didn't know Melinda had a favorite. She shrugged and went back to cooking.  
  
When Prue and Piper announced that dinner was finished, Phoebe helped take it all to the table. Everyone squeezed in around the table, and the children sat at the little table Marcus and Michael had built. Brent and Lila sat at one end, and Melinda sat at the other end. Melinda frowned when she sat down. Lila and Brent never sat so far away from her. Did she make them mad somehow? Had she done something wrong? She shook away her thoughts and thanked her Aunt Prue for her food when it was set in front of her.  
  
After dinner Prue and Sean left. Lila said goodbye to Brent, but just glanced at Melinda before leaving. When Phoebe and Marcus went home, Brent didn't even wave at her. Melinda crossed her arms and marched up to her room. She changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She didn't care that she hadn't brushed her teeth or said goodnight to her parents. She just rolled onto her side, and grabbed her teddy, and closed her eyes. Soon she was sleeping peacefully.  
  
"Where's Melinda at?" Piper asked Leo while she was cleaning the kitchen.  
  
"I'm not sure." Leo answered. "I'll go check on her."  
  
He made his way up to her room, and saw that she was asleep in bed. He crossed the room, and gave her forehead a light kiss, and wished her happy dreams and a goodnight. He pulled the blanket up around her arms, and closed the door quietly, behind him.  
  
"She's in bed." He answered, entering the kitchen.  
  
"Already?" Piper asked. "That's strange, usually she wants to stay up as long as she can."  
  
"Maybe she was tired and forgot to throw a fit to stay up late."  
  
"Yeah, maybe." Piper agreed. "And Prue forgot to give me and Phoebe our surprise. Whatever it was, she forgot about it."  
  
"Maybe you'll get it some other time."  
  
"Probably." Piper said with a yawn.  
  
"Why don't you let me do this?" Leo took the rag from Piper. "Go say goodnight to our daughter."  
  
Piper nodded and went upstairs. She quietly snuck into Melinda's room. She kissed Melinda on the cheek. She got up to leave, but Melinda called her back.  
  
"Mommy?" She said dazedly.  
  
"Yes, sweetie?" Piper asked in a soft voice.  
  
"Stay with me for a bit."  
  
"Okay." Piper crawled into her bed and cuddled her daughter close.  
  
  
  
Sean and Prue both put Lila to sleep around nine o'clock. Prue was exhausted. Sean came back from his daughter's room, and slumped onto the couch next to Prue. She leaned against him and sighed.  
  
"She's a handful." Sean said with a grin.  
  
"I know." Prue muttered.  
  
Lila came down the stairs and stopped at the banister. She saw her mother and father sharing a seat! She smiled, and decided not to bother them. She was shocked to see them leaning against one another. She realized things would be fine again as she tiptoed back to her room and decided tonight she'd do them a favor, and actually go to sleep on time. She was tired anyway. She slipped under the covers on her bed, and turned to face her night-light. She fell asleep with dreams of a little brother or sister dancing in her head. 


End file.
